Shopkeepers, accountants and mechanics are clubbing together to encourage local custom this weekend. By Rob Hastings

Mary le Comte had been wondering for some time how she and the fellow shopkeepers on their high street could club together to promote themselves. Mary, owner of MoseyHome on Stroud Green Road in north London, had considered a joint loyalty card, but when they heard about Small Business Saturday this weekend, it was soon decided: they would hold a Christmas trail of independent stores holding special sales, encouraging shoppers to stay local.

“We’ve got 14 shops taking part, and nine of those are holding some kind of pop-up or demo event,” says Mary, whose vintage furniture and homewares shop has been open for two years. “People will walk the high street looking at it properly and seeing what good things are developing here. If it works, then it can grow each year.

“The idea of the pop-ups is that we get local people involved to show off their wares. I’ve got a group of artists called the Barefaced Movement showing their photography and prints in the shop on Saturday and Sunday, and I’ll be here selling my goods with a special offer on drinking glasses and cups.”

Around the UK tens of thousands are taking part, and it’s estimated that several hundred thousand more could benefit. Streets fairs are being held, events will tie in with Christmas lights being turned on, and over 80 per cent of local councils are backing the scheme.

Online stores can benefit too

It’s not just about high-street shops and cafés – lawyers, accountants, garages and even architects are getting involved. Online retailers, such as the stationery store Love Give Ink run by Martha Keith, will also be taking part.

“When I discovered Small Business Saturday three years ago, I assumed it was about shops and the high street,” says Martha, “but any business can be involved.”

It also helps companies without any physical sales premises to link up through online cross-promotion, creating virtual communities that mimic the physical collaboration on Stroud Green Road.

Martha highlights a friendly partnership she has made with the owner of the biscuit company Lady Bakewell-Park, run by a baker in Essex named Becky whom she met through Small Business Saturday.

“She’s a one-woman band who’s fantastic on Instagram, and working with her has been really inspiring,” says Martha. “This week she gave us a shout-out and we had a lot of her followers coming over to our page, and we’re going to be doing the same thing for her on Friday.

“”Consumers respond well to a small business on social media and online. They like to be able to see the people behind the business, that’s a key part of what we do, so we try and show behind the scenes, what we get up to each day – that’s something a small business can do that a larger business wouldn’t be able to do so well.

“Because we’re a small business – especially online – it can be quite lonely. One of the best things about this campaign is meeting other people, even if they run a very different type of business.”

A countrywide movement

The national grassroots campaign was inspired by a similar annual promotion in the US. Michelle Ovens, a strategy consultant, has been director since it launched in the UK in 2013, overseeing a national bus tour in the month leading up to the day running workshops, activities, and exhibitions.

“There’s a lot of talk about the economic importance of the small businesses – they are 60 per cent of private sector employment and contribute a huge amount of GDP – but the thing we’d like to talk about this year is the importance to communities,” she says. “With 5.5 million small businesses in the country, the chances are you work for one, or your partner or your neighbour does. It’s very personal to people.”

It can be tough running a small business. In Stroud Green Road, one art gallery recently closed and moved elsewhere because of business rates rising, costing some stores hundreds of pounds.

Suits you, sir

Chris Suitor outside one of his two Belfast stores (Photo: Chris Suitor)

Suitor Menswear in Belfast, run by the appropriately named tailor Chris Suitor, saw trade rise 20 per cent last year by taking part.

“We had a blanket ‘20 per cent off everything’ deal last year. We had people who aren’t our regular customers coming in, the general Christmas shopper, so this year we’re going to have a more specific and targeted sale. We’ll have special offers on items that we think will be suited to the day – Christmas gifts and that sort of thing.

“A lot of independent stores sit on their hands, they don’t like sales, but for the ones that are more open-minded there are rewards. I can think of three specific clients I met through the scheme last year who became regular customers and have spent lots of money with me. One of them would be more or less my best client.”

Hard work

The Federation of Small Businesses’ national chairman, Mike Cherry, says: “In recent years, small businesses have proved incredibly resilient, but do face challenges. Confidence dipped in our latest confidence survey. Pressures on exchange rates and the need to raise wages means costs are rising fast, and there’s been a lot of uncertainty.

“Small businesses want to grow, increase wages and add more jobs – so the support from their local communities is essential.”

Beneficial changes are coming, however. In his final Budget as Chancellor, George Osborne announced in March that more than 600,000 small businesses will be given full business rate tax relief from April next year, with another 250,000 given a substantial cut as the threshold for the standard rate rises, saving hundreds, or even thousands of pounds. With that belated Christmas present, hopefully things will be a bit easier for the Small Business Saturday participants next year.

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